Updated 4/1/08 3:49pm EST: While it's true that the national tracking polls have declined in relevance as all eyes watch upcoming primary states -- the results this week from Gallup and Rasmussen national tracking polls among likely Democratic voters are important, in my opinion, because they demonstrate (especially to super delegates) that half of Democratic voters still want Hillary Clinton as their President despite the continuous glorification of Obama in the MSM and despite her recent Bosnia gaffe. And in Pennsylvania, contrary to Todd's front-page story, I see the 12-point SUSA lead for Hillary in a positive light (see below.)

Hillary has recovered!!

Hillary supporters should be delighted to see the net 6-point gain in 2 days shown by the Gallup daily tracking poll among likely Democratic voters.  It's now 1 point from being in the MOE:  O49:C45.

Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll shows an even closer race, now within the margin of error at O46:C45, representing a 4-point net gain for Clinton in the past 2 days.

In other interesting polling news, 58% of Democrats would like to see Obama as Hillary's VP, where 42% of Democrats would like to see Hillary as Obama's VP. (see Gallup link above.) Could this reflect the view that Hillary should be at the top of a joint ticket?  Perhaps Gallup should have asked the baseline question of do you want to see these two on a unified ticket?

Here's Gallup's analysis:

Lopsided Willingness to Embrace the Opponent

The reason for the disparity is that a relatively small number of Obama supporters -- just 29% --favor Obama choosing Clinton as a possible running mate. Seventy percent say they'd rather he choose someone else. In contrast, a majority of Clinton supporters -- 53% -- would want Clinton to choose Obama for vice president if she is nominated.

Bottom Line

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, among other Democratic Party elders, has recently argued that the only way for Democratic voters to come together in the fall will be for the two candidates to come together on the Democratic ticket.

Last week, Gallup reported that Obama supporters are more likely to remain loyal to the Democratic ticket in the fall than are Clinton supporters if their respective candidates aren't nominated for president.

However, according to the vice presidential preferences reported here, party loyalty and party unity are not one and the same. Most Obama supporters may be willing to bury the hatchet and vote for Clinton for president, but they don't seem eager to embrace Clinton as Obama's running mate for the sake of party unity.

In any event, seems like a Clinton/Obama ticket would be a definite winner!

In state news, SUSA shows a whopping 2:1 lead for Clinton in Kentucky and a 12-point lead in Pennsylvania, down from a 19-point lead 3 weeks ago, reflecting Obama's recent presence in the state and the fact that this survey was conducted during the height of bad publicity for Clinton.  Following national trends, expect to see her lead grow in Pennsylvania this week.  SUSA analyzes Penn. results:

Clinton continues to dominate among voters focused on the economy, the No. 1 issue, and health care, considered the No. 3 issue, according to the survey.

Obama has gained ground but Clinton continues to lead among voters focused on Iraq, the No. 2 issue.

And here is the impressive graphic for SUSA's Kentucky primary survey:

Let's give a collective shout out of gratitude for the fine folks in blue grass country!

I reported yesterday in this myDD diary that national polling demonstrates a markedly downward trend for Barack Obama on several levels.  I also provided a Survey USA report card of pollsters in this election year.

Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls both report today that the downward trend for Obama continues.

In Gallup, Obama drops another point.

Link here.

Given that this is a tracking poll that rolls nightly results into a 3-day average, a 1-point change has significance.  Gallup reports that "Clinton had a significant lead in Monday night interviewing."

Gallup's results shows a net 9-point drop for Obama in the past 5 days.

Rasmussen's 7-day tracking poll also shows a drop of another point for Obama (O45:C44).  This represents a 5-point drop in 4 days for Obama while Clinton has gained 2 points, resulting in a net 7-point decline for Obama in only four days.

Link here.

Rasmussen also reports that Obama's unfavorable rating is now 49%.  Rasmussen says:

The Illinois Senator is viewed favorably today by just 48% of voters nationwide (see recent daily results). The number with an unfavorable view of Obama has grown to 49%. Obama's overall favorable ratings peaked at 56% on February 21 and have declined modestly since that time. While Obama tries to move beyond discussions of race, he is viewed favorably by 83% of African-Americans and by 42% among White voters.

An interesting graph showing favorability trends of Clinton, Obama, and McCain for the past month was developed and presented by another myDD diarist yesterday.  That link is here.

From

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1322.xml?Rele aseID=1064

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani gets 43 percent to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's 42 percent in the 2008 presidential race in Ohio, and leads other Democrats by wider margins, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

...

"Ohio is the nation's premier swing state and Sen. Obama does best here of the Democrats, yet he needs to do something about Sen. Clinton's lead in the primary in order to have a chance to strut his stuff next November," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Clinton leads by huge margins but Obama polls better in the general. Obama needs to highlight this to democrats

interestingly this poll and a new survey USA in Missouri are at odds with the earlier Gallup poll.

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollRepo rt.aspx?g=8d193d0b-f937-41d6-b537-4566dc cfdb12

hmm, polls, polls, polls. folks aren't really decided. the nomination, i think is now largely name recognition. but polls can drive the narrative so we have no choice but keep up with them.

From Rasmaussen:

For the fourth time in five weeks, a national Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Democratic Primary Voters shows Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama within two points of each other. This week, it's Clinton 35% Obama 33%. Former Senator John Edwards is in third place with 14% support. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is a distant fourth at 3%.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_c ontent/politics/2008_democratic_presiden tial_primary

No comments from me, of course.